Nigeria Must Not Fail With 2023 Elections, UN Warns … As NBA Apologises For Abdicating Role 

As Nigerians count down to the presidential polls, which will hold in the next 25 days, the Deputy Secretary-General of the United Nations (UN) and Chair of the UN Sustainable Group, Ms Amina J. Mohammed, has warned that Nigeria cannot afford to fail with the 2023 general elections.
She also urged the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) to ensure success of the polls.
Mohammed stated this on Monday in her keynote address delivered at the State of the Nation Dialogue on Security, Economy and Administration of Justice, organised by NBA in Abuja.
He urged the association to come up with how to effectively manage conflicts that may arise from the conduct of the elections.
The UN Deputy Secretary-General said: “As Africa’s leading economy, with the biggest ports and security anchor for our neighbouring countries, Nigeria cannot simply afford to fail. UN will support any process that will lead to credible, all-inclusive, free and fair general elections. UN is committed to accompanying Nigeria on this journey.
“And NBA has a huge role to play to advance the country’s aspiration towards 2023 general elections.”
She said the UN has observed fake news, religious and ethnic hate speeches trailing the ongoing campaigns.
Speaking to the audience via a live broadcast, Mohammed applauded the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) for achieving great strides in increasing the credibility and transparency of the electoral process.
the number of women in government.”
NBA President, Yakubu Maikyau (SAN), in his speech, apologised to Nigerians for what he described as the failure of lawyers to live up to their responsibilities of offering guidance for the country’s advancement.
Maikyau said most of the challenges facing Nigerians were as a result of the neglect of lawyers to provide direction and leadership to the people.
“I dare say, with utmost respect, that to a large extent, our experience today as a country is a direct result of the legal profession’s abdication of the duty to provide direction and leadership to the people. I must, therefore, as one who is privileged to lead the Bar at this time, apologise to Nigerians for the abdication of our role.
“Today, as members of the Bar, we are reputed more for how much fees we charge our clients as opposed to the discharge of our primary call to offer guidance and/or offer ourselves for the advancement of the cause of our country. This apology is necessary because, no other group of professionals is called to this privileged position as the lawyers,” he said.
As the watchdog of the people, he added that NBA members must, through their independence and total commitment to social justice, provide necessary support to sustain independent and fearless judiciary, the last hope of man for law and order, peace and progress.
Members of a panel of discussion moderated by Eugenia Abu on the ‘State of Human and State Security in Nigeria: Is there a way out?’ lamented the security challenges in the country, even as they held that the security of life and property is the responsibility of government.
A former Inspector General of Police and Chairman of the Police Service Commission (PSC), Dr. Solomon Arase, a member of the panel, in his comment, called for increase in the numerical strength of security agents, adding that when there is consequence for crime, there will be deterrent.
Present at the NBA dialogue were presidential candidates of Action Alliance (AA), Maj. Al-Mustapha Hamza (rtd); Sani Yabaji Yusuf of Action Democratic Party (ADP); Prof. Peter Umeadi of All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA); Omoyele Sowore of African Action Congress (AAC); Prince Adewole Adebayo of Social Democratic Party (SDP); Dumebi Kachikwu of African Democratic Congress (ADC) and Nwanyanwu Daniel Daberechukwu of Zenith Labour Party (ZLP).